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“ | No! I saved ‘em. They’re just runaways. Do you have any idea, the trauma they were gonna go through? I do. I saw it! I saw it firsthand, what my dad would do to them! I’d pick them up on the road and I’d take ‘em to my cabin and I’d give 'em a nice room and a warm meal and safety. But that was never enough for them, they always wanted to go back out there. And so I preserved them, kept them safe forever. | „ |
~ Caldwell justifying his murders. |
Kurt Caldwell is the main antagonist of the Showtime special event series Dexter: New Blood, the sequel series to Dexter.
He is the owner of a truck stop in Iron Lake, a small town in upstate New York that Dexter Morgan moved to after faking his death. He is a pillar of the community, who lives a secret life as a serial killer of runaway teenage girls. He targets Dexter and his son Harrison after Dexter kills his son Matt.
He was portrayed by Clancy Brown, who also portrayed Mr. Krabs in SpongeBob SquarePants, Byron Hadley in The Shawshank Redemption, Viking Lofgren in Bad Boys, The Kurgan in Highlander, Lex Luthor in the DC Animated Universe, Mr Freeze in the animated series The Batman, Uka Uka and Dr. Neo Cortex in the Crash Bandicoot franchise, Hades in God of War III, Trident in Teen Titans, Undertow in The Little Mermaid II: Back to the Sea, Parallax in Green Lantern, Harry Bordon in Cast a Deadly Spell, Baron Praxis in Jak II, Taskmaster in Ultimate Spider-Man, Rahzar in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, Gunmar in Tales of Arcadia, the Evil Entity in the Scooby-Doo franchise, Ray Schoonover in Marvel's Daredevil, Salvatore Maroni in The Penguin, Smile Away Reformatory School Sergeant and The Regurgitator in Phineas and Ferb, John Burkhart in Law & Order, Edgar Volgud in Atlantis: Milo's Return, Savage Opress in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the Harbinger in John Wick: Chapter 4, and Surtur in Thor: Ragnarok.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Kurt Caldwell was born on March 15, 1960. His father Roger was an alcoholic who regularly beat his wife. As a child, Kurt witnessed firsthand his father pick up prostitutes and then beat them senseless before leaving them on the road.
Years later, Kurt picked up a hitchhiker named Iris. He tried to take her home but she refused, causing a fight to break out and her jumping out the truck, all the while Kurt claimed he was helping her. Kurt then grabbed his rifle and shot Iris in the back, killing her. He later disposed of the body in a cave.
At some point, Kurt married a woman and had a son named Matt, though Matt's mother died when Matt was eight years old.
Dexter: New Blood[]
Many years later, Matt disappeared and Kurt receives several phone calls from Angela Bishop, the chief of police, about him. He rushes to the search party camp, as they're packing up, and begs everyone to stay. Kurt tells Angela that Matt wouldn't have just abandoned town - he would've called him if he messed up and he's probably still out there, alive, and freezing in the woods. He appeals to the townspeople to help him because he's been there for them. Angela concedes and they send the search party back out and Kurt also meets Harrison, the son of Jim Lindsey - who is actually Dexter Morgan, who killed Matt.
As the investigation for finding Matt goes on, Kurt screams at Angela for not realizing earlier that this is a criminal investigation instead of a missing person's case. He follows along with the crime scene investigator who finds human blood mixed in with the deer's blood. Kurt gives a blood sample and they match it to the blood found in the snow. During all of this, Kurt has a girl held captive in a cellar designed to be a room, watching as she slowly realizes she's trapped. Later on, during the night, Kurt puts on a ski mask and hunting gear and opens the door to the room the girl, Lily, is captive in. With the song Runaway playing, Lily runs outside and Kurt points a sniper rifle at her and shoots and kills her. Later, he drains the blood out of her body.
Later, Kurt is spotted by Dexter outside of a bar celebrating. Kurt runs up to Dexter and tells him Matt's alive, claiming Matt FaceTimed him. Dexter offers to give him a ride home and Kurt gets in the pickup truck.
Kurt goes into the police station and everyone hugs him in glee, relieved his son is "alive". Kurt gives a statement about FaceTiming with Matt, claiming he saw no injury and that he is in New York City. Angela says she's called his cell a number of times and that it goes straight to voicemail and Kurt tells her that Matt looked like he was high and on a bender. Later on, Dexter watches as Kurt chats up a woman with green hair inside the diner.
After an incident involving Harrison at a local high school, Kurt visits Dexter and Harrison and Kurt gives Harrison a drone, much to him delight. Kurt tells Dexter he's lucky to have a hero for a son and admits he didn't do a great job with Matt. Dexter accidentally reveals that he knows about a boat accident Matt caused but tries to cover it up.
Later, Kurt is told by an employee that he needs to deal with the girl he talked with earlier, Kurt goes to talk to the girl, Chloe, who's camped out in the local diner. She tells him she was going to use the money he gave her to buy bus fare but that she was really hungry and needed to eat. She asks for more money but he says he can't give it to her but that he can get her a job as a waitress at the diner but she declines, saying she's gonna leave anyway. Later, Kurt drives Chloe to his cabin out of the woods and lets her into his spare room telling her to stay as long as she likes "meals included", leaving her shocked by his kindness and so grateful to have a place to stay.
She asks what he wants from her and he just asks humbly that she pay it forward. Later, Kurt watches Chloe through the camera as she tries in vain to call out for help. Later on, Chloe stares at the camera and takes her top off as Kurt watches. Over a loudspeaker, he tells her to stop before slamming the computer shut. Later, Kurt arrives at the bar and plays the song Runaway and dances, eventually asking the bartender Tess to dance with him, with Dexter watching.
Kurt opens the door for Chloe and tells her to go but she refuses. Kurt is forced to enter the bunker, resulting in Chloe attacking him. He grabs her and drags her outside. Kurt tells her to run but she hesitates and runs towards him, forcing him to shoot her in the eye. He screams "you ruined everything" before shooting her again, soon after crying and banging his head.
Later on, Kurt sees Harrison walking along the street. Kurt takes Harrison with him and they drive to the diner. Kurt and Harrison eat while Kurt gives some advice about dealing with rage and he offers him a part time job at his bar, giving him an application. Later, Kurt tries to reconstruct the part of Chloe's face where he shot her in the eye before flying into a rage and punching her in the face. Later on, Kurt pulls into the parking lot at the diner and sees a girl asking for some money.
He gives her some money and offers her a ride somewhere and she agrees but then sees her boyfriend and he tells her he found a ride to Indianapolis. Harrison walks up with her job application and tells him Dexter isn't okay with it but that he doesn't care. Kurt forges Dexter's signature and welcomes him to the team. Later, Kurt and true crime podcaster Molly Park chat at the bar. Kurt admits to Molly that Matt was never in New York City and that he lied about FaceTiming with him. Kurt tells her that Matt showed up drunk in person and Kurt wanted to cover for him. He tells Molly that Matt is hiding in his cabin. He offers for Molly to interview Matt to get his side of the story as long as she doesn't tell anyone where the cabin is. She tells him he has a deal.
With that, Kurt brings Molly to his remote cabin. He takes her down to his cellar room Kurt knocks on the door and calls for Matt as Molly starts to get creeped out, but Dexter walks into the cellar to check on them, claiming he saw people looking around and since it looked as if someone lived there, he thought to check to see everything is alright. Kurt states Matt isn't there and tries to get them to leave but Dexter pushes open the door and looks inside to find the room is empty. Dexter offers Molly a ride back and Kurt tells them the thing about Matt stays between the three of them.
Once they leave, a furious Kurt punches a hole in the wall. Later that evening, Kurt attends Harrison's wrestling match and gives him advice on how to channel his anger. Harrison follows his advice and ends up breaking his opponent's arm. Kurt congratulates him and hugs him before Dexter arrives and pushes him away, angering Kurt. Later, at the diner, Kurt sees Dexter and goes over to bring him a slice of cake and Dexter asks him if Molly ever got that interview with Matt.
Kurt tells Dexter that he believes there was a time they would be great friends. Suddenly, Angela arrives and arrests Kurt for the murder of Iris. Angela questions him and reveals they tested DNA with his, which proved to be a match. At some point, he calls an associate Elric Kane and tells him to give Harrison an envelope with a titanium nail inside to give to Dexter. That night, Kurt is visited by Dexter who warns him to stay away from Harrison. Kurt taunts Dexter and tells that him "titanium doesn't melt".
Later, Dexter realizes that the nail was recovered from the incinerator where Dexter disposed of Matt, as it was in Matt's kneecap for medical reasons, making Dexter realize Kurt knows he killed Matt. The next day, Kurt decides to make a police statement, explaining to them about his father. He claims that his father picked up Iris and that's the only thing he knows, though flashbacks reveal Kurt is the killer. Due to the testimony and the DNA only being a 67% match, Kurt is released without charge. Afterwards, Kurt has Elric kidnap Dexter.
Kurt meets up with Harrison and uses his spare set of keys to enter the school gymnasium. Using a pitching machine, Kurt teaches Harrison how to play baseball. He appears concerned when Harrison insists on trying to play curve balls, causing him to sustain multiple bruises, but doesn't stop until he's out of balls. Kurt then invites Harrison back to his cabin, which Harrison accepts.
During the drive, Kurt messages Elric and demands to know why he hasn't arrived, not realizing that Elric is currently hunting an escaped Dexter. They arrive at Kurt's cabin and they discuss Harrison's parental issues with him over a plate of venison. He receives a message seemingly from Elric saying he will arrive soon.
Kurt then gets a text from Elric, who tells him he's almost at the cabin and Kurt excuses himself for a while. Suddenly, Kurt reappears in his killing attire, rifle in hand. He arms the weapon and forces Harrison outside as he starts begging for his life. He tells him to run as Elric's car arrives at the cabin.
He yells at Elric to take Dexter out of the car, intending to make Dexter watch him kill Harrison as revenge for Matt's death and then presumably kill Dexter himself, however, he takes a closer look and realizes Elric isn't the driver; it's Dexter, having killed Elric earlier. Kurt tries to shoot him but he is unable and he ducks in the nick of time before Dexter hits him and Kurt runs off into the night. Later, Kurt visits Angela's house on Christmas day while Dexter and Harrison are there. Dexter approaches Kurt in artificially friendly matter, which Kurt reciprocates. Kurt gives Angela peppermint bark as a gift, and then exchanges passive aggressive comments with Dexter, such as that he is jealous Dexter gets to spend the holidays with his son, with Dexter replying that he wouldn't know what to do without Harrison on Christmas. Kurt wishes them a merry Christmas and tells Harrison he'll see him later, pretending to shoot him, and leaves, heading home to fix his rifle. Later, Dexter and Harrison scout the outskirts of Kurt's cabin with the drone Kurt had given Harrison as a gift. Through the camera, Dexter spots a vent on the surface. Dexter suspects that Kurt has an underground bunker, and the two agree to come back at night to investigate.
Later that night, Kurt arrives at Dexter's cabin, geared in his kill attire and spraying down the porch with gasoline from a fuel truck. Kurt takes a piece of burning firewood and lights the cabin on fire, before posting on top of the truck with his rifle trained at the door, intending to shoot Dexter and Harrison as they exit, unaware they are actually heading down his bunker. At the bunker, Dexter and Harrison set off a tripwire to activate a camera. Kurt receives the notification on his phone and sees Harrison descending down the ladder. As Dexter and Harrison move further into the bunker, they discover dozens of deceased women, including Molly Park, embalmed and posed in human sized trophy cases.
In a panic, Kurt races back home and hurriedly packs money, clothing, and other valuables, intending to flee. However, Harrison suddenly appears and Kurt tries to shoot him, distracting him long enough for Dexter to come behind him and sedate him.
Kurt wakes up later tied down with plastic wrap with Dexter and Harrison over him before trying to break free from the plastic. Rather than trying to claim he did not murder the women, Kurt asks them if they find it impressive. An angry Harrison berates him for murdering them, but Kurt states he was 'saving' them from the trauma they would face as runaways but Dexter instead accuses him of killing him for the feeling of power. Kurt reveals to Harrison that he tried to kill him because Dexter killed Matt. Kurt begins to insult Dexter's code but is gagged and Dexter informs him that Matt blamed his father for everything, much like Kurt did. With that, Dexter stabs Kurt in the chest, killing him in seconds and Dexter dismembers his corpse. Dexter loads the pieces of Kurt's body into garbage bags and he and Harrison take it to a furnace, cremating them.
In the morning, Dexter and Harrison return to the destroyed cabin. Dexter believes it to be Kurt's parting shot. They later arrive at Angela's house. On her way in, she takes an envelope from the mail and opens it. Inside, there is a note that reads, "JIM LINDSAY KILLED MATT CALDWELL", as well as the titanium screws found in the furnace where Matt was cremated. The envelope was presumably sent anonymously by Kurt before his death. This results in Dexter's arrest when another titanium screw is found in the remains of his cabin.
Victims[]
- Iris Broussard - Shot in the back by Kurt Caldwell and then buried alive by Elric Kane off-screen 25 years prior, shown in a flashback, body found later.
- Lily Kosnicki - Shot in the back by Kurt Caldwell.
- Chloe - Shot in the eye by Kurt Caldwell.
- Molly Park - Murdered by Kurt Caldwell off-screen, body shown.
- Annie Kurtz - Murdered by Kurt Caldwell off-screen, body shown.
- Jennifer Nunez - Murdered by Kurt Caldwell off-screen, body shown.
- Shannon Luu - Murdered by Kurt Caldwell off-screen, body shown.
- 24 Unnamed Women - Murdered by Kurt Caldwell off-screen, bodies shown. (30 shown in three rows, minus six already counted victims, not including Iris as she wasn't in one of the boxes)
- Total - 31
Trivia[]
- Kurt Caldwell is loosely based on the late Alaskan serial killer Robert Hansen.
- Kurt is the second Dexter villain who tried to kill Harrison, with the first being Travis Marshall.
- Kurt is very similar to the villain Hinzelmann from American Gods. Both are serial killers who live in small towns in northern USA. They both kill one young female every year and make it look like they were runaways. Both got away with it for decades before getting caught.
External links[]
- Kurt Caldwell at the Dexter Wiki